Trooper charged with assaulting girlfriend

Daniel Tepfer

Published 8:12 pm, Thursday, December 13, 2012

BRIDGEPORT -- For the second time in as many weeks, a veteran Connecticut State Police trooper has been arrested, this time on domestic violence charges.

Laszlo Urszenyi, 45, was arrested Wednesday night in Bridgeport after police said he assaulted his girlfriend.

Although Urszenyi was initially charged with disorderly conduct, the charges were later increased to third-degree assault and unlawful restraint. Third-degree assault is a Class A misdemeanor punishable by up to a year in prison.

On Nov. 29, Trooper Aaron Huntsman was charged with larceny after police said he stole more than $3,000 and a gold chain from the body of a crash victim.

State Police spokesman Lt. J. Paul Vance said Urszenyi has been put on administrative duty and will undergo an internal affairs investigation after the criminal prosecution is completed. State police also confiscated Urszenyi's two guns.

According to the police report, Bridgeport police responded to Urszenyi's home Wednesday night after police dispatch received a 911 hang-up call. When officers arrived, they found Urszenyi's 35-year-old girlfriend visibly upset and with red marks on her neck.

The police report said the girlfriend told officers that Urszenyi had forgotten it was her name day, a custom observed in many European and Latin American countries that celebrates the saint's day associated with a person's name. Because Urszenyi had forgotten the victim's name day, she texted Urszenyi to tell him she no longer wanted to be in the relationship and she was moving out of the apartment.

Urszenyi arrived home about an hour later and the two got into an argument.

During the argument, police said, the girlfriend claimed Urszenyi pushed her into the bedroom by her neck, closed the door and refused to let her out until she begged to use the bathroom.

The girlfriend said she managed to get to the bathroom and lock the door, but Urszenyi broke it open, the report states. The girlfriend then ran to her car, where she called police. Police said the bathroom door was splintered around the lock.

The report states that Urszenyi admitted pushing his girlfriend and breaking down the bathroom door. Urszenyi said he was packing up to leave when police arrived.